I finally finished the second bee painting. It took months.  I used gouache and watercolor, neither of which I am comfortable with and I don't really like the look.  This one of the earlier tries. The final composition is different and the color are muted. I am still not sure about the result but I am moving on to the next illustration.

 I have been thinking about mediums. I majored in printmaking and exposed myself to far too many toxic substances. I have some chemical sensitivities I suspect came from this.

Acrylics seemed like a good non-toxic substitute.  We don't really know what the long term health consequences of them are. And the clean up with water maybe be better for the individual artist but the effect on the water is obviously not good.

I was so pleased to learn how to paint with oils without solvents. Maybe that can be a green choice. There still are some disposal problems and concerns about flammable rags.

What is a green alternative for an artist? Graphite? Colored pencils? What kind of substrate? Paper, canvas?
It's hard to work out a balance between these concerns and the kind of medium that sings under my hands.